


The Stone of Omphalos

by HellfireRaven



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-10-27 17:20:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17770988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellfireRaven/pseuds/HellfireRaven
Summary: "'The Heavens tell a tale of old, in Vela the stone you seek, the power to regale the Gods, the chosen one they greet...'"Their mission was simple...find some ruins, open a door only accessible by a Celestial wizard and find a mystical stone.Apparently Natsu Dragneel didn't agree.Nalu mainly, mentions of other ships, rating for swearing and smut.





	1. Chapter 1

  **Well i'm back with another one, I swear Fairy Tail can't keep me away! This one is definately panning out longer than Fire Burner was but will still be of the Mature variety. I just can't seem to stop writing Nalu smut. I got the idea for this story researching some myths of the constellations in the night sky so kudos to any of you who pick up on my references! Other than a disclaimer that I don't own Fairy Tail and a warning from me about swearing and smut in later chapters, enjoy!**

* * *

* * *

 

Fairy Tail – The Stone of Omphalos – Chapter One 

"Did you succeed, Canopus?"

"Yes, my Queen. My journey into the human realm was quite the enlightening experience, Earthland has changed much in two thousand years. Humanity is flourishing, mages are no longer persecuted and I discovered a most wonderful creation called 'Cheesecake'."

"The humans put cheese – in a cake?"

"Apparently so, I must admit humans have some rather strange habits."

"Indeed. So I am of the impression you have located the stone?"

"I located the stone in the Ruins of Vela, just south of 'Era' in a small cluster of mountains bordering the Graveyard Sea. From my research the true extent of the ruins have not been discovered and after journeying there I have found a doorway that can only be opened by a powerful burst of star magic."

"How fitting. Our dilemma is how do we get a celestial mage there to open the pathway?"

"During my tenure, I joined a guild of mages under a disguise for reconnaissance and research to find a celestial mage as you requested; to see if I could find one of the calibre we require. In my studies I have only located nine celestial mages in the entirety of Earthland, three of which are either retired or decease and one was only a child. She was by far the most powerful and, I believe, a prime candidate for transfusion. I waited for the girl to grow and she is now nineteen, in possession of ten of the Zodiac Keys and has almost mastered the 'Stardress' power."

"Most impressive."

"Her name is Lucy Heartfillia, daughter of Layla and descendant of Anna – the most powerful celestial Mage alive."

"Anna wasn't a candidate?"

"She retired her powers after teaching Lucy."

"Well done my brightest star. How do you suggest we get the girl to the ruins?"

"These guilds receive requests for help in exchange for money, such as destroying hoards of monsters, finding lost treasures and the like. If we were to send a request to this particular guild requesting the help of this celestial mage specifically, we should succeed."

"Very well, this Amulet contains the last fifteen percent of Eta's heavenly power, use it to travel back to the human world and send a request to this guild and help the girl find the ruins and the stone before Eta disappears and my power at Heavens Altar ends."

"What if the girl decides not to –"

"Then we must find another source of power."

"Very well, my queen."

"Gather my Eight Stars of Carinae – have them all prepared."

"Of course."

"Send Theta to me, her...acquaintance with a certain Zodiac will be of aid to us."

"Anything else, my Queen?"

"...Bring me some of this 'cheesecake', will you Cano?"

"Yes, Carina."

* * *

 

"'The Heavens tell a tale of old, in Vela the stone you seek, the power to regale the Gods, the chosen one they shall greet..'"

"The heck?"

"Look! It says they need a Celestial Mage...and the reward is two million jewel!" Lucy Heartfillia grinned and bobbed up and down on the balls of her feet excitedly, thrusting the mission leaflet under the nose of her disinterested looking best friend.

"Sounds...dramatic." Gray spoke.

"Sound like a load of hoo-hah, if you ask me."

"Now, Natsu...you chose the mission last time. It's Lucy's turn." Erza spoke sternly.

Natsu gave a dramatic sigh and folded his arms like a toddler.

"Yeah...and you _still_ owe me a new outfit after you yet again burned my clothes off! That makes thirteen tops, twelve skirts, a new coat and three pairs of shoes you owe me, Flame Brain." Lucy huffed at the pinkette.

Team Natsu were currently sat around a long table in the guildhall, eating breakfast and perusing a small pile of mission slips for their next mission. This one in particular had caught Lucy's interest.

Find some ruins, open a door only accessible by a Celestial wizard and find a mystical stone. Simple.

Apparently Natsu Dragneel didn't agree.

Yes, their previous mission had ended a little dramatically, but Natsu happened to enjoy making a grand and flaming entrance – It wasn't his fault Lucy had been standing nearby...nope not at all.

Really.

"I think Natsu is trying to say he likes seeing you naked, Lucy." Gray grinned across at the blond girl to gauge her reaction to his comment.

Sure enough Fairy Tails' resident Celestial Mage blushed beetroot red and leaned across to swipe at him.

"Quit it Gray!" she huffed.

"Hey, take it up with Natsu, I'm just saying." Gray lifted his hands up in mock surrender and smirked at the blushing pinkette.

"Natsu, tell Gray he's delusional."

"Well – _heh_ – its not as though its a bad view Luce, lets be honest..." Natsu grinned bashfully. "OW!"

"PERVERT!"

"They _liiiiiikkkkkeeee_ each other!" Happy shouted gleefully as Natsu dodged another Lucy punch, his face still red.

Erza sighed and briefly placed a hand to her forehead out of frustration.

"Can we focus? All in favour of taking this mission say 'Aye'."

"AYE!" four collective shouts of aye rang out around the table.

Natsu was still sulking in the corner.

"You still whining, Fire Breath?"

"I just don't see what's fun about hunting down some magical rock."

The table descended into terror as Erza Scarlet glared at the sulking Dragon Slayer. He took one look at the Requip Mage's face and gulped, shrinking into his seat.

"You will come and support your team without complaint, do you hear me, Natsu?"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Natsu squeaked.

* * *

Lucy stepped out of the bathroom, clad in a towel and feeling refreshed from her morning bath. Her routine had gone smoothly and now she just needed to get dressed. She still had a relatively long amount of time before the team were due to meet at the guildhall for breakfast, so she dressed slowly and grabbed her brush to run through her long strands of golden hair; grabbing a hair bobble to tie it into a side braid.

"You got any chilli sauce, Luce?"

Lucy shrieked in surprise and dropped her brush, turning round to find Natsu sitting at the kitchen table, eating toast. Happy was also sat at the table, to her horror; wearing one of her bra's on his head.

"This hat fits my ears great Lushi!"

"What have I told you about sneaking – you know what, never mind. You two practically live here anyways. It's in the cupboard above the fridge." Lucy started to scold them, but she found the situation rather amusing; so she let them off. " And just put that back where you found it you stupid cat!"

"Wow Lucy isn't cranky this morning! Maybe she won't tell me off for the pictures I sent 'Sorcerers Weekly' of her snoring her head off last week." Happy tried to whisper to a grinning Natsu.

"WHAT?!"

"Oops!" Happy grew his wings and flied around a very angry Lucy's head several times before he shot out the window; Lucy's bra still on his head.

"See you at the guild buddy!" Natsu waved at him.

"I SWEAR WHEN I GET HOLD OF THAT CAT I WILL TURN HIM INTO A –"

"Come on Luce, you know Happy was just teasing ya." Natsu got to his feet and walked towards his angry best friend.

Lucy sighed and smiled.

"I know."

"Right, so get that frown off your face and gimme a Lucy grin instead." Natsu learned in and poked her lightly on the nose.

"So what happened to meeting at the guild...not that I'm shocked you're here but –"

"I wanted to talk to you before we left...just us." Natsu dropped the smile and his demeanour suddenly turned serious.

Lucy tried not to gasp when her best friend stepped closer to her and lifted a hand to tilt her chin up to look at him.

_'Has he always been this tall?_ ' Lucy felt a blush dust her cheeks and her heart was pounding in her chest. ' _Why was he so close?'_

"I want ya to keep your guard up on this mission...something doesn't feel quite right about it." He whispered down at her, his gaze dancing between both her eyes.

"I-Is that all?" She swallowed and started to pull away, slight disappointment coursing through her body at his words. "This isn't my first mission, Natsu. I can take care of myself."

She gasped again as Natsu prevented her from moving too far by securing a warm and solid arm around her back to pull her to him.

"I know you can, Luce. Never said you couldn't, but I got something important I gotta talk to you about when we get back."

Natsu was gazing at her with such an intensity, she blinked at him and tilted her head in confusion.

"You aren't going away again, are you?" she asked quietly, one of her hands rising on his muscled chest to rest against his heart.

It was beating just as fast as her own.

_'Is he as nervous as I am?_ '

"I'm never leaving you again, Luce." Lucy felt her breath hitch and felt herself being pulled into his strong arms.

It was rare for the Dragon Slayer to instigate their hugs but the way he was holding her now made her feel warm and secure. It felt almost as though he was promising her something. Something big. His eyes softened and he nuzzled against her briefly.

"Why does it have to wait till we get back?" she asked, slightly muffled by her face pressed against his chest.

"Don't want any... _distractions_...from the others."

"Not even Happy?"

"Especially not Happy."

Lucy willed her heart to stop pounding so hard and she raised her head to gaze up at him with a small smile.

"Okay...I'll be extra careful, I'm not sure what to make of 'serious Natsu'."

Natsu slowly smiled at her and lowered his head to press against her forehead, closing his eyes and causing her breath to shudder.

"There has always been a serious Natsu...lets just say he decided it was time to stop acting so much like a kid and think about his future for a change." He chuckled, his eyes opening to gaze down at her with flushed cheeks; his fingers dancing at the hem of her top.

"But kid Natsu makes me laugh, don't tell him I said that though. He can be an egotistical jerk when his head gets inflated." Lucy whispered.

"Nah he doesn't need his head inflating again...that shit was cool for five seconds before it got too heavy."

"Giant Happy was fun though."

"He enjoyed the power trip. If I remember right I enjoyed something else getting much bigger too."

Lucy gasped as his eyes dropped obviously to her chest, before flicking back up to her gaze.

"Pervert." She hissed.

Natsu grinned heatedly at her.

There was no mistaking it this time – Natsu was actually flirting with her.

_Finally_...

* * *

 

"We are not lost!"

"Sure we are, that squirrel has had to look at your ugly ass three times in the last half an hour."

"Leave my ass outta this, Popsicle!"

"Wanna go Hot Shot?"

"Oh its on Frost Face!"

"QUIET!" Erza yelled into the forest.

Natsu and Gray jumped apart and Lucy giggled into her hand. The team had been walking for what felt like hours, long into the afternoon and soon evening; following the trail south of Era.

They happened upon a mountain village.

It was a small and quaint place, hidden between two high valleys that sheltered it from high winds, monsters and the like. A collection of small rickety wood built houses sat around a larger stone built building, which seemed to be the village meeting place.

Team Natsu may never have found it had it not been for the Fire Breather complaining he was hungry.

His sensitive nose had picked up on the smell of cooking, and, he had grinned and set off into the early evening; leaving his team and Happy to run behind after him.

Thus they found this little place in the middle of nowhere, they quickly learned the village had virtually no visitors and thus there were no taverns or hotels to stay the night. After stopping a ravenous Natsu from stealing a sumptuous looking blackberry pie from the window of a nearby house, that was the source of his keen sense of smell; the friends had gone to find someone in charge.

The village elder had pointed them in the direction of a local sanctuary, a ruin of sorts nestled within some woodlands, protected from monsters by magical barrier stones that would make a suitable campsite. He had also informed them, when they had presented the mission leaflet for him to look at that he had never heard of the Ruins of Vela; but they were welcome to search the mountains and keep anything they found.

"This magical stone is starting to sound like old rubble to me." Natsu folded his arms suspiciously.

"Indeed, to think an elderly man who has lived around here his whole life has never heard of this place is a little hard to believe." Erza agreed, leaning to one side with her hand on hip.

"Well we won't find anything in the dark, and I don't fancy running into the local wildlife. I say we find this sanctuary and get some sleep, we can continue our search in the morning." Gray was leaning back against a nearby tree, already down to his underpants.

"Clothes, Gray." Lucy sighed, too used to the sight of her team mate half naked to care.

"What?!"

"Think there's anything round here to eat?" Natsu looked over at Lucy and grinned.

"Look...I respect that you have a big appetite Natsu, but you _aren't_ the only one that's hungry –" Lucy sighed before her pink haired partner went rigid next to her, holding a hand out to quiet her.

His eyes focused on something she couldn't see in the darkness and he sniffed quietly.

"What is it, a monster?!" Lucy hissed quietly.

Natsu grinned and opened his mouth to breathe a thin ribbon of flames from his mouth, into the space between a couple of nearby trees to a point almost two hundred meters away.

They heard nothing but the whoosh of his flame and the low squeak in the distance of what sounded like an animal meeting its untimely end.

Natsu turned to his gawking team mates and grinned, running off into the night and motioning for them to follow him.

"I found dinner!" He yelled behind him. __

* * *

 

By some sheer miracle, not only had Natsu found dinner; but their campsite for the evening.

The small deer that had met its unfortunate end was lying not ten meters from a softly glowing blue stone with ancient runes carved into its surface, leading to an open clearing surrounded by overgrown grass, broken stones and what sounded like a slow flowing river nearby.

"This must be the place." Erza smiled, turning to the others. "Natsu and Lucy, can you find us some firewood? Grey and I shall set the camp up and prepare dinner."

"What about me?" Happy asked excitedly.

Erza had a vague feeling that Natsu wanted to be alone with the Celestial Mage judging from the pointed look he was giving her from behind Lucy and she smiled secretively.

"Happy why don't you go and catch us some fish from the stream?"

"Aye Sir!" One mention of that word and the blue Exceed pulled a tiny fishing rod from Natsu's pack and flew off excitedly towards the river.

With that taken care of, Natsu grinned at the redhead with a flush to his cheeks and Lucy and himself walked off into the woods.

It seemed things were finally moving forward between two certain partners. 

' _About damn time...'_ Erza spoke internally.

* * *

 

" – Natsu! Where are we going?" Lucy couldn't fight the blush dusting her cheeks as she stumbled forwards as best she could with an excited Dragon Slayer behind her with his hand over her eyes.

"Keep those eyes closed Luce, it's a surprise." Natsu's warm breath on the back of her neck caused a shiver to travel down her spine and her insides to loop happily.

"Not like I could see anything if I did." She grumbled half heartedly.

"Okay almost there, you need to do a step up...now."

Lucy lifted her foot and stumbled for a second before her foot found purchase on the ledge. She frowned as Natsu told her to sit down and she was startled when she was pulled back against his warm and solid chest.

"Okay, head back against my shoulder." He whispered against her ear.

"If you wanted to cuddle –"

Natsu removed his hands and she opened her eyes, adjusting to the darkness momentarily before she gasped up at the night sky.

Bright stars of every colour littered the cloudless sky and Lucy couldn't help the tears that sprung up as the first constellation she spotted was that of a certain grumpy Zodiac spirit, who's stars seemed to shine the brightest; as though she was comforting Lucy. A pair of warm arms snaked their way around her waist and she sighed happily.

"Figured you would like the view." Natsu whispered huskily, letting his chin rest on her shoulder. "And yes, I did want to cuddle."

Lucy smiled and turned her awed gaze from the stars and, with a nervous bout of courage; leaned across to press her lips against his cheek, lingering there for a moment to gauge his reaction. His eyes widened slightly before a blush dusted his cheeks and a slow smile crept onto his lips.

"Its perfect, thank you." She whispered back.

Natsu pulled back from her slightly, as though contemplating something.

His eyes drifted downward to her lips, before he flicked them back to her hooded gaze, asking permission to move further. With a hazy nod, she heard him groan and he leaned forwards to press his lips gently against hers.

Waves of liquid heat poured into her body from her lips and a delicious shudder ran down her body, his lips pressed more urgently and a small moan left her throat. Lucy felt him moving back and in a bid to keep the kiss from ending so quickly, her left hand shot out to sift through his hair. This time it was Natsu who groaned low in his throat and he deepened their kiss by sliding his tongue across the seam of her lips, asking silently for entrance. Lucy whimpered in delight as she opened her mouth and their tongues rubbed against one another for the first time.

It was then that Lucy was turned urgently in his arms and she pushed Natsu back to rest against the ground, following him.

Lucy reluctantly pulled back from his lips, panting heavily with red cheeks and was satisfied to see her best friend was also equally affected; gazing up at her with an adorable blush and wide eyes.

"- D-Do you want to stop?" Natsu pushed himself up onto his elbows to bring himself closer to her face, gazing up at her reverently.

Lucy paused for a moment before shaking her head and throwing her arms round his shoulders to kiss him again. The Dragon Slayer looked surprised before he too wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back with ardour.

* * *

 

"What is taking Fire Brain and Lucy so long to get fire wood?"

Gray had just finished preparing the meat for cooking and disposed of the carcass, while Erza was finishing chopping mushrooms and dill she had foraged from the surrounding woodland.

Happy had returned after ten minutes with his scarf pull of tiny fish, one of which he was munching on gleefully.

"They have only been gone twenty minutes, lets give them a few mor-" Erza started.

"No need, we're back." The familiar voice of Natsu drifted in to camp, the Slayer with arms full of wood, followed by a blushing Lucy.

"Get lost on the way back?" Gray teased suggestively, causing Lucy to blush harder.

"Something like that." Natsu grinned over at his best friend as they joined the others to start building their camp fire.

"What? Gray teased. "Couldn't get it up?"

Lucy squawked in embarrassment and her jaw dropped open while Natsu saw red and leaped over to punch his friend in the face.

Dinner was long forgotten...

* * *

 

"The Eight Stars are prepared, My Queen." Spoke Canopus.

"Good, how go our preparations on Earthland?" asked Carina.

"Lucy Heartfillia and a group of friends seem to have stumbled upon the ruins quite by accident. Shall we proceed immediately?"

Carina looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Let the Mages rest for tonight, the girl is no use to us unless she is fully rested."

"Yes my Queen."

* * *

* * *

 

**That's the first chapter out of the way, next will be up next week, or sooner time allowing. Please leave a review/fave if you enjoy it so far!**


	2. Chapter two

**Sorry for the delay in posting the next chapter, life gets in the way sometimes! I got an email from a reader asking a few things about the story and I thought I would clear a few things up. Yes I have based my OC's on the stars of the constellation Carina and the mythology of them making up the Keel of the mythical ship Argo. Each star has a different power and will be introduced in different ways. I just wanted to clear up that she and the others are not the enemy, as is explained in this chapter. I won't say any more but there may be a traitor amongst the colstellations ;). Enjoy!**

Stone of Omphalos – Chapter two

  
The impressive ship that sat at the peak atop Heaven’s Altar in the constellation of Carinae was a most wondrous sight. Clouds of star dust particles from a long dead supernova a millennium ago swirled around a sea of endless stars, and gave momentum to the vessel made of starlight as it trailed the solar winds in search of adventure.

  
The Argo was a shining beacon of prismatic colour, transparent to a degree; but held together with light from the great Queen Carina’s power. A ship from ancient legend, a tale told and retold by many a mortal until the tale was believed no more than a myth.

  
But this shining beacon in the starry skies was sinking, and so with it it’s beloved Queen and her Eight Stars. Soon to be no more among the cosmos, should the waning of Eta’s heavenly magic hold her sway.

  
The brave Queen and her knights, whom for millennia had kept the shadows at bay, battling against the dark forces that threatened to overtake the cosmos and consume the Universe into a new Dark Age.

  
All the realms were in Peril.

  
Earthland, Edolas and the Celestial Realm were in the gravest danger, the realm of Death had already fallen to darkness long ago.

  
Queen Carina, who had foreseen this coming battle; had been preparing for hundreds of years. She knew that Eta, the Star that gave her power was slowly dying. And with it, not only would it cause the death of herself and her beloved Stars; would cause a Black Hole to open that would allow the darkness through to seep into the Celestial Realm, dragging it into oblivion. 

  
She had spent hundreds of years sailing the clouds in search of a solution to their incoming doom, to no avail until a random comment from a drunk Theta one evening as her lover, Taurus and she canoodled against the ships rigging had sparked an idea in her head.

  
‘ _Why don’t we become contracted Celestial Spirits! Taurus loves his master just as much as he loves me!”_

  
Carina needed a new source of power, one so pure of light that it could keep the coming Darkness at bay and seal it away once again.

They now had their solution.

A long and thorough debate with the Celestial Spirit King had given merit to the idea, decades of research in the Library of Appolodorus had given rise to their need to search for a powerful Celestial Mage.

  
Canopus had eventually found that power, and not a moment too soon. Eta would die in precisely three Celestial days, or roughly ten or eleven Earthland months.

  
The fate of the universe was resting literally on Lucy Heartfilia’s shoulders.

  
The Queen had tasked her most trusted Canopus with finding a Celestial Mage with a level of power strong enough to forge an entirely new set of Star Keys, in effect binding Carina and her Stars under contract with the chosen Mage, securing themselves a new pure source of Stellar power to allow them to remain atop Heaven’s Altar to sail the solar winds atop the Argo, protecting the Celestial Realm from the creeping darkness.

It was a tall order to accomplish, the task of forging new keys had never once been attempted by a mere mortal; and while Carina understood if the young maiden was not up to the task, she still had faith in the young woman.

  
She was highly thought of by the Celestial Zodiacs, her power was pure and bright and unlike anything seen in a mortal before.

  
Lucy believed herself to be weak, but she was far from it.

  
“You sent for me, your grace?” The male bowed respectfully to his mistress.

  
“Canopus, how many times must I ask you to call me Carina?” The silver haired Queen raised a glowing delicate hand to press against her forehead.

  
“As always, my duty is to you foremost; as your servant.”

  
“That you may be, but you Stars have been under my guiding light for a millennia. I have come to regard them as my children almost, my greatest creations.” Carina smiled proudly from her throne atop the Argo.

  
“-Would you prefer I called you...mother?”

  
An elegant eyebrow raised in amusement at her friends words.

  
“...I shall not dignify that question with a response, Cano. You of all know I am not your Mother given how often we have shared a bed.”

  
“- You never did understand my sense of humour.”

  
“I trust our ‘chosen one’ has slept well?” Carina rose slowly to her feet, moving to stand aside her brightest star and rest her head on his shoulder.

  
“If you count sleeping next to a drooling and snoring bear as ‘well rested’, then certainly.”

Canopus leaned over the ship to trail a hand through the star winds and they merged to form a vision of a blond sleeping peacefully, curled up in the arms of her lover.

  
“Will the dragon slayer pose a problem to our plans?” Carina asked warily, eyeing the attractive pink haired young man as he snored.

  
Canopus shrugged nonchalantly.

  
“He is very protective of this Lucy, it may be difficult to keep him out of the way; he is a stubborn one who may not take kindly to our need of her. From my visions I see he tends to react with violent force if he believes his mate is threatened.”

  
“An admirable trait...a man protecting his love.”

  
“It is my duty to protect you, my Carina.”

Canopus waved away the vision and moved to kneel before his Queen, pressing his lips to her hand.

  
“I would expect no less, Cano.” The Queen smiled. “Do you believe she has the will and determination required to forge these new Star keys?”

  
“Lucy has shown great resilience and drive to better herself and has an unbreakable bond with her spirits. She is patient and kind and I see no reason why she will refuse our request, given we have no other option.”

  
“It is rather amusing, we are essentially kidnapping her.”

  
“...I wouldn’t call it kidnapping. We are merely borrowing her without asking.”

  
“She has to be in the Celestial Realm to forge our Keys?”

  
“Yes, Taurus has stated her powers are greatly increased when she is here.”

  
“Won’t she be reluctant to leave Earthland for months? I hear the forging and training may take many Celestial days...months in the mortal realm.”

  
“Perhaps if we provide her an...end reward, of sorts?”

  
“Reward?”

  
“If we provide Miss Lucy with something she wants more than anything, perhaps to reunite with an old friend?"

"Or perhaps we allow her to bring a friend?” Carina smiled warmly.

  
“I shall look into it.”

  
“Very well, have Theta and Taurus ready to depart. I shall make ready to greet our new...master.” Carina smiled warmly at the last word.

  
She had greatly enjoyed the freedom of commanding the Argo, her Eight Stars and sailing the solar winds for thousands of years; but if accepting a master would save them from disappearing into nothingness, Queen Carina would gladly accept a master.

  
“Yes, mother.” Canopus smirked at his lover with a teasing grin.

  
“...Charming.”

* * *

 

The sound of birds chirping and the sizzling smell of meat roasting were the first two things the Celestial Mage noted as she was slowly roused from her slumber the next morning.

  
From the hazy heat radiating pleasantly through the canvas and the brightness of the sun, she guessed it was early morning. With a hum, Lucy stretched and let a tired yawn escape her lips.

  
Then she froze.

  
The third thing she noted was that something warm and solid was curled up against her back and that the loud snoring of her pink haired best friend was quickly giving her a headache.

  
It was strange not to have a bundle of familiar blue fur snuggled between them, but Lucy blushed when she remembered what Happy had piped up over dinner the previous evening.

  
As Lucy had stated she would be retiring to bed, Natsu had conveniently let out a very obviously fake yawn and asked if Lucy was cold and needed his ‘warmth’ for the night.

At this, Lucy had blushed beetroot when Happy had grinned mischievously and said very loudly that if Natsu and Lucy wanted some time alone to play naked with each other; all they had to do was ask and he would stay with Erza.

  
The aforementioned red head and a grinning Ice Mage had taken one look at Natsu and burst out laughing.

  
Her best friends face had been a picture of bliss, so Lucy had called him a pervert and banned him from her tent. Stalking off to bed angrily.

  
She should have known Natsu wouldn’t listen...not that she was complaining. His arms were warm and secure around her and the breath on the back of her neck made her shiver in delight.

  
Lucy made a mental note to ask him later what exactly had changed between them recently, the Celestial Mage had a pretty solid suspicion; but it wasn’t the first time she had been wrong about Natsu’s behaviour.

  
Ok it was pretty obvious that Natsu wanted her in some romantic capacity judging by the way he kissed her, but she wasn’t sure if he wanted more from their amazing friendship; or if the Dragon Slayer had finally hit puberty and figured out how the whole sex thing worked.

  
What if his amorous behaviour was simply because of his raging hormones and Lucy was simply the closest female to him?

  
She didn’t want to get her hopes up.

  
“Natsu...” Lucy groaned and arched her back with a sigh.

  
The blond heard a low groan, Natsu mumbling about breakfast and the sound of movement outside of their tent. Lucy tilted her head back to look at the sleepy Dragon Slayer and pressed a kiss to his cheek, reaching a hand behind her to run her fingertips through his hair.

  
“Hmn...definitely a good morning.” Natsu grinned and opened an sleepy eye to greet his best friend.

  
“Morning, Natsu.” Lucy giggled, a blush dusting her cheeks as Natsu’s arms tightened around her waist as he nuzzled into her neck; peppering kisses against her cheek.

  
She could definitely get used to waking up in his arms like this.

  
Her giggling turned into a low groan as his kisses against her throat turned languid and heated, back arching against his chest as a heated hand slowly worked it’s way up her stomach to tease the underside of her breast. Lucy felt his hand stall momentarily before reaching the rest of the way towards her ample chest over her tank top.

  
“Mmn...Natsu.” Lucy gasped as liquid heat travelled through her body, making her toes curl and a throbbing to pulse at her core. The Dragon Slayer growled lowly in his throat behind her and his open mouth latched onto her throat, suckling and trailing his tongue to and fro enticingly; teasing his warm fingers back and forth across her breasts in sync with his tongue.

  
“Luce...” Natsu groaned and his fingers tightened at her hip and chest.

  
Lucy bit her lip in anticipation of what Natsu would do next, but when he suddenly stalled and sniffed the air around them; she unfortunately never found out as she heard the pinkettes stomach growl loudly.

  
She sighed and grinned behind at him.

  
“I think breakfast is ready, Natsu.”

  
“...But what if I want dessert before breakfast?” Natsu whined heatedly, Lucy would have flushed in embarrassment at his words but the way he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her caused her to giggle uncontrollably.

  
“I’m pretty sure we can sneak off for a while after breakfast...I could really use a nice warm bath in the pond by those pillars we sat on last night.” Lucy pressed a kiss to the lobe of his ear.

  
Natsu gulped audibly and his free hand dropped to tease fingertips against the waistband of her shorts, huffing out a hot breath of air against her cheek.

  
“What else?”

  
His words gave her a sliver of courage to whisper her next sentence directly into his ear.

  
“You could join me...” she purred seductively against his skin.

  
She felt Natsu hiss and she barely got a hand over her mouth to contain the surprised moan that left her throat when she felt his hips grind into her backside, the hard portion of flesh at his hips pressing enticingly against her lower spine.

  
“Breakfast better be ready...” Natsu hissed longingly into her neck.

  
With a whoop of delight, the pinkette detangled himself from the frustrated blond and all but abandoned her in favour of a far better offer than making out; grinning back at her as he swiftly exited the tent.

  
Lucy could honestly say she’d never been envious of breakfast before, but she knew better than to come between her best friend and his endless stomach.

  
With a small yawn and a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart, she too crawled out of the canvas door and saw an apron clad Erza crouched over the fire with a pan of eggs and bacon sizzling enticingly. Gray and Happy were setting out several plates while Natsu was drooling off to the side.

  
“Morning lovebirds.” Gray teased, delighting in the blush that comment brought to his friends cheeks. “Were you up all night, Flame Breath?” he added.

  
“Gray!” Lucy turned beetroot at the obvious innuendo and reached over to smack his arm.

  
“Obviously not judging from Lucy’s face!” Happy teased from behind a freshly caught salmon he was currently devouring.

  
“Shut it, stupid cat!”

  
“What are you two on -OH!” Natsu looked adorably confused for a moment before something clicked in his head and he blushed. “It’s none of your business whether I was ‘up’ all night, Snow Cone!”

  
“Will you two stop discussing our sex life! For your information, we haven’t done that yet!” Lucy shrieked indignantly. “What happens between Natsu and I is nobodies business but our own, thank you very much!”

  
“But aren’t you two going out now?” Happy asked, his big round eyes were so hopeful it almost made Lucy want to tear up and pull him into a big hug. “But Natsu, you said you were going to tell Lucy how –“

  
Natsu hissed and leapt over to slap a hand to the Exceed’s mouth in order to prevent him from blabbing everything.

  
“Huh?“ Lucy blushed.

  
“I’ll get round to...that...after the mission. Now isn’t the right time.” He looked down at his blue partner imploringly.

  
“So you don’t have trouble getting it up, Natsu?” Erza, who had been quietly enjoying a slice of strawberry cake whilst cooking ;suddenly asked with a wry grin.

  
“Not you too Erza!” Lucy wailed.

  
“Geesh...why are we all so fascinated by Fire Boy’s dick?” Gray grumbled.

  
“Yeah yeah, just cause you aren’t getting any Popsicle.” Natsu grumbled as Erza handed him a plate piled with eggs and bacon.

  
“Oh and you are?”

  
“Getting more than you-“

  
“Yeah right!”

  
“QUIET!” Erza yelled as she handed a plate to Lucy. “We will eat breakfast in peace, do I make myself clear?” She glared at the boys.

  
“Y-Yes Ma’am!”

* * *

  
Lucy couldn’t deny she was incredibly nervous, what on Earthland had possessed her to offer to bathe naked with Natsu was completely lost on her.

Not that she wasn’t enjoying the view of his sculpted torso, as he shrugged off his one armed vest and let it flop on the grass surrounding the pool the nearby stream emptied into.

She was enjoying that very much.

  
What was making her nervous was the way his heated eyes watched her every move as her shaking hands moved to pull off her blue top as he began to work on unfastening his belt.

  
He took one look at her embarrassed blush and moved towards her.

  
“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want –“

  
“It’s not that...I do want to bathe with you...it’s just we’ve seen each other naked on accident so many times and it’s never made me feel like...this.” Lucy whimpered huskily.

  
“Like what?”

  
“We’ve never seen each other naked based on the fact we wanted to.” She looked away with a blush.

  
“Dunno ‘bout you but I’ve wanted to see you naked for months.” Natsu ran his hands up her gooseflesh arms with a bashful grin.

  
“I don’t mean it like that....” Lucy blushed harder and stood on her tip toes to press her forehead against his. “I mean it doesn’t embarrass me anymore, we’ve gotten so close to one another I often wonder what...else we could be, what does that mean?” Lucy admitted warily, afraid of what reaction her words would cause with him.

  
Natsu gazed thoughtfully at her for a moment before he leaned in to kiss her lips sweetly.

  
“It means you want the same thing as me, Luce.”

  
His eyes were filled with an emotion she didn’t recognise and she blinked up at him.

  
“Y-You do?” she was amazed she managed to form a coherent sentence, because right now Natsu was gazing at her with such awe and wonder it was making her legs turn to jelly. “I thought you said no distractions till after the mission?”

  
“I dunno if I can wait that long, Lucy.” Natsu whispered. “But maybe we should slow things down a bit till you figure out how you feel?”

Lucy could feel her body protest as Natsu pulled away, her trembling hands reached out to stop him. She didn’t want to slow down, she wanted everything he would give her.

  
“WAIT!” she hissed urgently, before she threw herself at him, arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his heatedly.

  
Natsu grunted in surprise at the force of the kiss and his eyes drifted closed after a minute and he pressed his own back against hers with equal fervour.

  
Lucy whimpered in delight as his bold hands pressed to both hips and began the slow inching up of her top, his tongue slid into her mouth as Lucy began to walk them backwards towards the pond; she pulled away from his scorching mouth and looked up at him through hooded eyelashes.

  
“Can we still grab that bath?” she asked huskily, fingers dancing across the waistband of his pants.

  
Natsu grinned heatedly down at her.

  
“I’ll give you more than a bath, Luce.”

  
The Dragon Slayer revelled in her yelp of surprise as he picked her up by the back of the legs and let them fall backwards into the water.

  
Still clothed.

 

* * *

 

"Is our plan in motion?"

"That naive Queen moves to seal us away, I don't believe she has figured out her source of power has slowly been poisoned from within over the last few centuries. But she shall do soon."

"But what of the girl?"

"We cannot reach her where she is, Lucy Heartfilia is to be allowed to pass into the Celestial Realm - there she will remain vunerable as she tries to attempt the impossible." 

"And there we shall strike her down?"

"We shall."

* * *

**Well things are getting interesting. Stay tuned for the next chapter, coming soon!**


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